Raymond Leslie Earp - PO/X112828 (D)

This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at 21/06/2019 16:29:01

Hi all,

Firstly I would just like to say hello to you all and briefly introduce myself, and apologise for the rather long post spread out over several posts! I have tried to be as descriptive as possible in the hope that someone may be able to point me in the right direction as I am chasing my tail at the moment.

My name is Jon Earp and I am currently trying to research further into my grandfather's (Raymond Leslie Earp - PO/X112828 (D)) life during WW2 for the purposes of completing a short visual book/diary that I created back in 2010 for my final Graphic Design project at university. I hope this forum is the right place to post on as I don't know if he was an RM Commando or ?just? a Royal Marine.

My father and I have recently received documentation from the records office that gives some extra detail into his service, however, because we have his original R138 'Certificate of the Service of.... in the Royal Marines' document, a lot of the information we already had access to. One thing I will say is that the supplied abbreviations booklet has been incredibly helpful thus far!

What we know so far about Ray (a mix of info from stories he told my father growing up and from personal items he posted back from the war, plus previously researched info)

My Grandad enlisted in the Royal Marines at Fort Cumberland on 21st May 1942 (5 days after getting married!)
Employment during service: Slightly illegible but looks like ?Linesman? followed by (Telephone)? See attachment

NB I have really had to compress the imagery down as they were too large - I have copies available on Dropbox if needed

His records stated he was part of:

1. RMTTD HBL - 21st May 42 to 1st Oct 42
2. HBL am(?) (1st AA?) Division 2nd Oct 42 to 24th September 43
3. COPRA 25th September 43 to 13th Nov 43
4. HMS Peewit 14th Nov 43 to 6th March 44
5. HBL RMTG 7th March 44 to 15th March 44
6. Odyssey (a Stone Frigate) Navy Party NP 1645 - 16th March 44 to 15th March 45
7. Royal Albert Naval Party NP 1749 - 16th March 44 to 24th July 45
8. Royal Edgar 25th July 45 to 11th March 46
9. Ports division - 12th March 46 to 13th June 46th
10. Released in Class A

Verbal Story passed down
Some Training took place at Slapton Sands. This is incorrect, I have since found out that he trained at CANFORD CLIFFS in absailing/cliff climbing etc
My grandad landed on D-day with/alongside the Canadians. At Courseulles-sur-Mer (or the vicinity of - I have 3x postcards)
He lost two close friends that day on the beach. Shells were incoming ? he dove into a crater and his two friends under a truck however, unfortunately, the shell hit the truck and blew it 30 foot into the air. He never saw his friends again.
He was nearly killed (later on that day? Im not so sure) from a shrapnel (grenade or shell/mortar) wound to the neck that was 1/8inch from his jugular. He was driven back to the beach hospital by someone who had never driven before
Pre war he was a truck driver for British Rolling Mills in the Black Country area and I have numerous photos of him standing next to a truck and Jeep with RN insignia. Have since discovered the trucks he drove were AEC Matador belonging to the RN
He went through Paris, Minden and Hamburg or Dresden and on to Berlin then de mobbed in Paris for 6 months
This corroborates with the below info from Ben Warlow - https://www.naval-history.net/xBW-RNNavalParties.htm

1645 *ANCXF & Staff Portsmouth to 08.09.44 ? to Granville ? to St Germain (Nr Paris) 22.09.44/to Minden 11.06.45/amalg with NP 1749*
ANCXF & Staff St Germain 10.44- 05.45/Minden 06.45/merge with NP 1749 (rear Party in Paris disbanded 30.06.45) 06-10.45/not listed 01.46 (see also 1589 and 1597)

and

1749 Flag Officer Berlin - *formed Princes Garden Kensington 02.45/ to Minden 06.45/there to 07.09.46, then to Hamburg* (reported as Norfolk Ho 04.43 ? to DRYAD 26.06.44) 39 Princes Gardens, Kensington SW 7 03- 06.06.45/Minden 06 ? 08.45 (Brit Naval CinC Germany & Staff 07.45)/ROYAL ALBERT09.45- 06.51/(see also 1645 * 1812)
{ROYAL ALBERT opened Princes Gardens 01.01.45 ? Commissioned 01.04.45, from Minden to Hamburg 15.09.46, to Cuxhaven 01.03.51, PAID OFF 16.07.57)

and

A picture shows Ray leaning against a truck with the lettering and number NP1771 which is:
Mobile Y Unit COLLINGWOOD (*formed there 04.45/to Chelsea Ct 21.04.45/to CCA 05.45/to Kiel/ To Minden/disbanded 10.45*) 04.45 with NP 1734 29.04 ? 07.45/Minden 08-11.45/disbanded 09.12.45

He and his buddy (I think the driver of the CO?) had use of the CO's (a guy named Feacey who was a Saville Row tailor in London) Jeep when the he was at meetings. I have found a photograph of this 'Feacey' of his leaning up against a truck - his rank appears to be just a standard marine rank with signal specialism

Arrived to outskirts of Berlin approx. 2 weeks before Russians got there but were told to hold the position. He didn?t hold a great opinion of the Russians as he said they were animals.

My main questions and thoughts at the moment are:

Was Ray in 48 Royal Marine Commando? No photos that I have show the commando insignia on his uniform ? I will scan these in shortly

Was Ray a Royal Navy Beachhead Commando? ? Again, one photo I have doesn?t seem to say RN Commando on his arm, just simply ?Royal Marines?. Other photos are unclear ? I will upload these soon.

Was he a regular Royal Marine? Would this possibly be a Signals section of standard Royal Marines regiment? This is my best hunch right now based on the evidence that I have collected so far.

Finally, is there something on the documents I have uploaded that I have completely missed as a source of information?

Again, apologies for the long post however I would really appreciate it if anyone could shed any light on this for me as I seem to have hit a brick wall!

Kind regards,

Jon

Sources I have used:

Naval Party - https://www.naval-history.net/xBW-RNNavalParties.htm
RM, RN list of Officers - http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RM_officersA.html
Juno Beach Assault Landing document - http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/juno/tables.pdf

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 05/06/2019 11:38:11

Pictures etc to follow

The attached is a more legible version of the record as supplied by the Records Office. The only entry i cant read on there is the line between COPRA and HBL RMTG. To me it looks like "Pieersvit" or "Peesuit".. :?

Jon.

Your relation was a hostility only marine, this means he served for the duration of the war. On his papers he served at RMTTD which is the Royal Marines technical training depot at Fort Cumberland.
HBL is Home base ledger basically based in the U.K.
COPRA is combined operations pay and records and was responsible for pay and drafting of combined ops people including Landing craft crews and commandos, naval parties etc.
HBL RMTG was Royal Marines training group.
Oddyssey was a hotel room in Ilfracombe for pay and records for various naval parties and units in combined operations, not a lot in the public domain, I have been told by the RM museum curator that it?s still under the official secrets act.
NP1749 was a heavy and mobile communications unit whose movements were unrecorded due to them being attached and detached to many units.
Royal Edgar I?m not sure about.
Ports division is where he would have demobbed from. His CO would possibly be Joseph Cawley Way.

My grandfather served in RMTTD March 1942, then went to Oddyssey but no number in Late 44, then NP 1749 June 15 1946. He was also in 45 commando but not documented, have 2 photos of him in 45 in 1943 and 1945, he also drove and a signaller. He never spoke much about it, my grandmother knew lots and told us of him at D Day with Lord Lovatt and 1st SS Brigade up to the liberation of Belsen. He was in Minden where his son served in same camp 25 years later. I would suggest browsing the photos and posting as much documentation as possible. Some good knowledgeable people on her who can help. Post the photos as badges can give clues.

Not saying he wasn?t a commando, get the info on here and see what comes.

Regards.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 06/06/2019 00:11:22

Hi Craig,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply, It's great to know that I am somewhat on the right tracks in piecing together the puzzle of my grandfather and his war experiences.

I have spent the evening digging through an old hard drive that I used whilst at uni and I have found a lot of imagery that may be helpful in aiding me - I will attach those over the course of following posts. I will be uploading the documents we had from the records office once I finish scanning them all in.

A few things to note:

I have found a picture of my grandad inside of a truck and on the truck appears to be the wording 'RM Line COY' - Would this suggest he was in more of a supporting role?

On the photos I have, I can't see the combined ops patch

On the photo attached below, I believe i can faintly see what looks like a flag on one of the marines upper arms. There is another who appears to be a Warrant Officer? judging from his shirt sleeve badges (A crown inside a wreath?).

On the below reply I have attached an image of "Feacey" who also appears to have insignia of flags on his arm jacket. ( a quick google search of this name shows a link to a fallen soldier of 47 Commando however this is not the same person as my grandad received xmas cards from him for years after the war)

I have found a postcard of the frontage of the cinema at Courseulles-sur-mer which is good evidence to link the verbal stories of Ray landing with the Canadians on Juno Beach

For the sake of legibility, I have uploaded the high res scans to a Dropbox account where you can view the images in full resolution. You may see something I have missed!: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u3u72nnj3nbhqv3/AACteDhoR2rI2dtKQXg6_9HKa?dl=0

Thanks again,

Jon

Great photos. Photo 1 your relative has a sea service blue beret with cap badge red backing, not a commando beret. They are great photos he also has a marksman badge lower sleeve.

Keep posting.

Hi all,

I have been absent from the forums for a few weeks due to trying to read up on as much as I could regarding my Grandads service and what regiment he was actually in. The books by James D Ladd have been incredibly helpful in filling in the missing links.

My Grandfather wasnt a Commando, but was a Royal Marine so I hope that I am still allowed to post here, more so as to be of use to any future researchers!

I have scanned in copies of his service records and other details that we have had back from the records office so please feel free to take a look at those - I would be incredibly grateful if anyone can point out something I may have missed or completely overlooked!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r10gf8zk5k0n2rq/From%20Navy%20Command.pdf?dl=0

To cut a rather long story short, my best guess is that he was part of the Royal Marine 1st AA A/TK Battalion (Under Royal Marine Armoured Support Group?)

My next steps are to confirm beyond all doubt that he was part of the 1st AA A/TK battalion and research further into the experiences of his regiment via the National Archives. On his records there is only one indication that he suffered a neck wound (from shrapnel) which resulted in a scar on his neck, so I am hoping that this would be listed somewhere in an archive at Kew - Would this be the case?

Finally, on an image (here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2f7n8x7zh3z7ch/20190614172315504.pdf?dl=0) I have found reference to another Naval Party number which was not listed on his records, which leads me to beleive that he was psrt of some kind of mobile support unit.

I will be updating the information in the first post with text in bold, over the coming days.

Thanks all

I noticed FunShore on the records this stands for Foriegn unknown shores and was the signals element set up to run comms on operations, I.e. naval party 1749 heavy and mobile communications. 1800 men inc 800 marines under command of Major Knight. Not many records on this. Google it and see what comes up.

Hi Craig,

Just a quick note to say thank you again for your insight, you have been a great help thus far so I cannot thank you enough!

There is still much I need to get my head around so I will do the required digging based on the info you have given me to see if I can connect the dots.

I will get back to googling...

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 21/06/2019 22:53:40

Hi Jon,

earpy88 wrote:
...My Grandfather wasn't a Commando, but was a Royal Marine so I hope that I am still allowed to post here, more so as to be of use to any future researchers!

Of course you are welcome to post here.
And thank you for acknowledging that your grandfather wasn't a commando - some descendants of Royal Marines find it difficult to understand and some even take umbrage when the history of Royal Marines and Royal Marine Commandos is explained to them [If I had a pound for every time I've had to explain...]
Anyway, the fact is, that everyone had an important part to play in the defeat of Fascism. The War couldn't have been won by one man, or by one unit, or one branch of the Armed Forces or, as we know, by one country.
Everyone who served in the War, whether they volunteered or were 'called-up' were heroes and they all deserve to be remembered.

Nick